Reality
by THGFAN101
Summary: "Welcome to Reality!" Dan's voice echoed through the speakers. "While you contestants were relaxing indoors, you've been missing out on reality. Welcome to the real world of pain and misery!" (ON HIATUS)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This story is for Lovely SOS's contest. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues series or any of the characters.**

* * *

**~*~Reality~*~**

* * *

"Perfect," thirteen year old, Dan Cahill said.

He took a step back looked at his wonderful creation.

In the backyard of the mansion, there stood an ordinary, large building with balconies and many windows. The outside looked completely plain, but what was on the inside was the most fun place ever invented.

Dan couldn't take all the credit. He came up with the idea, but he had the Starling triplets help him build it. Without them, his brilliant idea would never have left the paper.

Sinead, Ted, and Ned got out of the building and locked the door behind them.

"Is everything ready?" he asked, eagerly. He couldn't wait to try this out.

"Yep," Sinead said. "We made sure everything was working properly. Nothing should malfunction."

"Are you positive?" he asked. "This _must _work."

"Yes," the triplets said in unison.

"Good," he replied. "Guys, please contact all our relatives."

"All of them?" Ted asked. From the tone of his voice, Dan could tell that he didn't approve it.

"Ok, fine," Dan said. "Not _all _of them. Too many Cahills in one place won't end well. How about everyone my uncle, Fiske, usually invites? Like the Cobras, Holts, and etc…"

They all nodded and walked back to the mansion.

He smiled. He was confident that his plan wouldn't fail. This would be the best event anyone has ever seen.

_Time for humiliation, _he thought.

* * *

**_A Week Later…_**

Dan was pacing the room while his relatives were waiting "patiently" for him to start speaking.

"What's going on?" Ian asked annoyed.

Ian, Natalie, Hamilton, Jonah, Phoenix, Reagan, Madison, Ned, Ted, and Amy have sat in the living room for thirty minutes. They've all been waiting for Dan to say his big surprise. Unfortunately for them, they didn't get an answer out of him. Whenever someone asked him a question, Dan would simply tell them to "be patient".

"Daniel," Natalie said. "I can't wait any longer. I have more important things to do then sit around here all day."

"What are we waiting for?" Amy asked him.

He stopped pacing and said, "Listen, you'll understand what's going on once Sinead comes back."

"Where is she?" Hamilton asked.

"She's just making some minor adjustments."

"Adjustments? For what?" Hamilton asked.

"Yo Dan, what's going on?" Jonah said.

Just then, Sinead walked through the door. Her hair was frizzy, her clothes were caked with mud, and she was out of breath. Sinead looked like she just came out of the jungle. _Or being chased by Cobra._

"Sinead?" Amy said alarmed. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Everything's alright, Amy," she replied. Then she turned to Dan. "Sorry, I'm late. I did the minor adjustments, and then I tried it out."

"You tried it out?" Dan asked, interested. "How did it go? Did it go exactly as plan?"

"Yes, it did," she replied. "I feel bad for its next victim." Sinead left the living room leaving everyone (except the creators) with their mouths hanging open.

"What did she mean by victim?" Natalie demanded. "You better answer this time. I don't want to get my clothes ruined! This is from Harrods!" She took out her dart gun and pointed it at Dan.

"Relax Nat," he said. "I'll explain everything to you guys." Natalie looked doubtful, but she lowered her weapon down.

"I have some good news," he continued. "Two of you lucky Cahills will be in this wonderful competition. It's a race. Whoever crosses the finish line first, wins. The winner will win whatever they wish. It could be a new book, a new outfit, new sports equipment. Or, best of all…pranking anyone of your choice with yours truly."

He stopped and looked at everyone's expression. Everyone looked interesting. _Who wouldn't? It's the best deal of the century! _The only person who didn't look interested was Ian. _What a surprise…_

"How do we know that you aren't doing this for your entertainment?" Ian challenged. "How do we know you're telling the truth about the prizes? What if we don't want to do it?" Dan grinned. He was prepared for this.

"I _am _telling the truth," he replied. "Why would I lie to my wonderful relatives? And, you can't drop out of this competition if you're chosen. If you try to drop out or escape, then I'll read some parts of your diary."

"What diary?" Ian asked smoothly.

"Don't pretend you don't know. I know all about your diary and your teddy bear, Mr. Buttons." Ian's face turned a shade of pink.

"You still sleep with a teddy bear?" Regan asked in disbelief.

"I don't sleep with him," Ian told her. "And fine, I'll do your silly little contest."

"Dan, how are you going to choose the contestants?" Amy said. "And, are you sure this is safe?"

"Of course, it is," he told his sister. "The Starlings helped me."

"Hey Dan," Ned said. "We don't have to do this, right?"

"You two are excused," he said. "Nobody else."

"Pick the two contestants already," Natalie said, impatiently. "I already know what I want."

"That's the spirit!" Dan said. He walked towards the closet and brought out a black top hat.

"Okay guys, everyone's name are placed in here once. The two that are pulled out, will be the contestants," he explained.

He placed his hand in the hat and pulled out two folded papers.

"The two lucky Cahills are," he paused for dramatic effect. "Ian and Hamilton! You have one hour to rest."

* * *

Ian Kabra looked at what he was wearing with distaste.

He couldn't believe that he was wearing a red track suit and running shoes. "Americans and their horrible taste," he grumbled.

Dan forced them to wear tracksuits for the competition. Hamilton didn't have a problem with this because he always wore it. Ian, on the other hand, never in his life wore casual clothes. He believed that it was important to look professional at all times.

After they were dressed, everyone followed Dan outside towards the backyard. A large, white building stood in the center of the yard.

"Attention everyone," Dan said. "Ned, Ted, and Sinead, you guys will be in the control rooms. Hamilton and Cobra, stand in front of the door that has your name. Everyone else, follow me."

The Starlings walked to the right side of the building while Dan and the others walked to the left side of the building. Ian and Hamilton walked inside the building.

The first thing they saw were two doors: one was painted blue while the other was red. The colors represented their branches. Ian's name was on the red door while Hamilton's was on the blue.

They stood there in an awkward silence waiting for their next instructions. Ian wondered what horrors they would be facing in this competition. After seeing how Sinead looked like after testing the place, he wasn't looking forward to it.

_Dan chose me on purpose. _Ian couldn't believe that Dan chose them in a fair way. He probably placed his name in there multiple times. Ian suspected this because Dan loved to play pranks on him, especially in front of _everyone._

_I'm going to kill Dan,_ he thought. _How dare he? Forcing me to do something preposterous as this._

"What do you think is inside?" Hamilton asked interrupting his thoughts.

"No idea," he replied. "Probably something related to ninjas. The Cahill boy has a weird obsession."

"May the best Cahill win," Hamilton said.

"Good luck," Ian told him. "No one defeats a Kabra."

"Welcome Hamilton Holt and Ian Cobra!" Dan's voice boomed from the speakers.

"In this competition, you'll be facing _horrible _things. Things that may make you insane. Remember, I'm not responsible for any injuries or death. Lastly, the loser has to do whatever I want."

_What?! This wasn't part of the deal! _Ian thought angrily. Of course, Dan didn't tell them _everything. _

"This wasn't part of the deal! I demand to talk to you at once!" Ian yelled.

"Are you scared, Cobra?" Dan teased. "Too late, you should've asked for clarification earlier. There's no turning back now."

"I was threatened to do this," Ian replied.

"Good luck contestants! The competition starts in 3…2…1…go!" Dan exclaimed.

The doors opened and Hamilton and Ian ran in.

The race began.

* * *

"Welcome to Reality!" Dan's voice echoed through the speakers. "While you contestants were relaxing indoors, you've been missing out on reality. Welcome to the real world of pain and misery! Please enjoy the music that's being played during this contest. I'll be giving regular updates."

As Ian ran deeper into the artificial jungle, he looked at his surroundings. There was a plethora of large trees and living creatures. He had to admit, it was amazing how the Starlings managed to make this look like a real jungle. The problem was that Ian couldn't stand the mosquitoes and the humidity.

Ian winced when a mosquito bit him. By the time he got out of here, he'd be infested with mosquito bites.

A familiar tune started playing, _"I know you love me, I know you care, just shout whenever, and I'll be there…"_

_Ugh, horrible American music. Dan will pay. Even Jonah's so-called music is better than this peasant._

Ian stopped running. This whole time he was running straight but now he was stuck with three paths to choose from. The problem was each path had a sign that said: **THIS WAY**.

Ian got on the ground and searched for possible clues. He ignored the fact that he was getting mud all over his clothes. He searched through the bushes and found nothing.

He was ready to give up searching and choose a path when he stumbled across a paper. It was near the sign on the middle path. Ian opened it and smirked.

Written on the paper was an easy code that needed to be scrambled:

**ETH RORTEC HPTA SI HET NOE NO THE GRTIH**

_The correct path is the one on the right, _Ian thought. _This is so easy. Even the Holts could figure this out._

"Is this the best you could come up with?" he yelled. No response. Ian would do anything to see the Cahill boy's expression right now.

He dropped the paper and continued running on the path on the right.

* * *

At the end of the path, he saw door.

_Thank goodness, I'm out of this horrible place._

As soon as he touched the door handle, he was drenched in sticky, green slime.

"Seriously?!" he yelled. _This would take forever to get off. _He had no doubt that Dan was laughing at the moment. He didn't find this amusing.

"Congratulations!" Dan's voice echoed. "You made it to the second of the three tasks. Don't worry, they'll get harder!"

The door opened and Ian walked inside. Ian was astonished.

Inside was a life-size version of the childish board game, Candy Land. There were mountains made up of large gum drops, lollipops the size of trees, bushes made of cotton candy, candy canes, and many other candy related structures. Ian didn't like this place. He knew that Dan would have some tricks.

He ran down the path and stopped at bridge. The bridge was over a lake of melted chocolate. Blocking the bridge was a large boulder.

Ian's stomach grumbled. He wished he was in Paris. He could be enjoying a delicious chocolate croissant instead of being in this ridiculous contest.

He tried to move the boulder but it wouldn't budge. He assumed that it would be made up of candy, but it was a real rock. It looked out of place. Engraved on the rock we're the next instructions.

**In order to pass you must answer this riddle:**

**I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?**

"This is very easy," he said. "The answer is: the letter E."

The boulder exploded into a large amount of tiny rocks.

Ian walked carefully across the bridge. He was halfway through the bridge when a hidden trap door opened. Ian fell into the melted chocolate.

He cursed. _First I'm covered in green slime, now this? _He should've been more careful by making sure the next step would be safe.

"Congratulations Hamilton!" he heard Dan say through the speakers. "You're on to the last and final task! You better finish your swim, Ian."

_How is Hamilton already on the last part? _He wondered. He couldn't lose, especially to a _Tomas. _He'd never hear the end of it.

Ian swam towards the end of the lake and got out. He saw a door and ran toward it.

* * *

Ian was in a gymnasium.

He saw a door with the exit sign. He ran towards it.

Out of nowhere, a large purple dinosaur with a green spots appeared. It blocked the exit.

"Hello Ian Kabra!" the dinosaur said. Ian couldn't remember where he heard this familiar voice from.

"Get out of the way, you overgrown lizard," Ian told it.

"Don't you want to play with Barney? Let's pretend we're pilots!" the dinosaur said.

Ian mentally slapped himself. How could he not know what this horrible creature was? Typical Dan, making him associate with this _thing. _

"No thank you," Ian said. "Now get out of the way."

Barney's eyes turned blood red. From behind him he pulled out a gigantic ax. "You must pass me first."

Ian backed away a couple of feet and yelled, "Daniel! This isn't a fair fight! Where's my weapon?"

"Go to the closet on the right side of the gym," Dan replied.

Ian did as he was told and opened the closet. All he found was a water gun.

"Seriously Daniel? How is a water gun going to help me?" Ian took the water gun and aimed at Barney.

The water didn't affect Barney. Ian assumed that it was a robot, unfortunately he was wrong.

"Great job!" Barney exclaimed. "My turn!"

Barney walked up to him and started swinging the ax at him. Ian dodged all his attempts and dropped the gun. The only thing he could do was run until Barney got tired. Fortunately, the purple dinosaur was a slow runner.

Ian didn't stop running even though he was extremely tired and felt like he was about to faint. If he stopped running, he'd lose. Not only would he lose, but he would die in the hands of ridiculous dinosaur.

"Come here Cobra!" Barney exclaimed as he chased Ian around the gym. "Come and die!"

After a few minutes of running around the gymnasium, Ian tripped over his shoelaces fell on the floor.

"Stupid running shoes," he grumbled. Just as he was about to get up, Barney caught up and stepped on his foot. The impact crushed him. He wasn't able to get up. _How much does this thing weigh?_

"Caught you!" Barney said, happily. He lifted the ax over his head and prepared to strike Ian.

"Any last words?" Barney asked.

"I'm going to haunt you Daniel," Ian said.

"Goodbye Cobra!" Barney said. He swung the ax. Just as it was about to hit Ian, it disappeared. Along with Barney.

Ian got up, startled. He looked around and saw that he was alone. Barney disappeared out of thin air. How did he disappear?

Ian didn't really care. He was just glad that he was alive.

"Good riddance, Barney," he said.

"This contest is officially over," Dan's voice echoed. "Please relax. Someone will escort you out of the room."

* * *

Ned escorted him to the balconies where everyone has been watching the competition. Hamilton was already there.

_I lost, _Ian thought. It was obvious because of everyone's expression. They all looked like they were trying to not laugh. He was going to have a _long _talk with Dan.

He met his sister's eyes. She looked disappointed and embarrassed that a Kabra was beaten.

"Sit down," Dan said. Ian immediately sat down on the bench. His legs were killing him.

"As you know, the Hammer won. So, congratulations man!" Dan said giving Hamilton a high-five. "Ian lost _big _time. How pathetic."

"If it wasn't for your ridiculous tasks, I would've won!" Ian said angrily, his voice rising. "Honestly, slime? A chocolate lake? Fighting an evil dinosaur with a water gun? What kind of competition was that? I don't believe that Hamilton had the same tasks as me."

"He's right," Amy said to her brother. "Ian had difficult tasks while Hamilton had simple tasks. This wasn't fair." Ian was grateful that she agreed.

"Of course you would be sticking up for him," Dan said. "We all know you fascinate him."

Amy blushed, "I _don't _fascinate him. I believe in equality."

"Actually Amy," Madison said. "It was fair in away. Ian had easy riddles but dealt with hard things after. Hamilton had really hard riddles but easy things after that."

"Thank you Madison," Dan said. "Hamilton already told me what he wanted. Ian, since you lost, you only have to do one thing. You have to kiss my sister. I know you want to."

"What?!" Amy yelled. "Dan, this wasn't part of the deal. Why are you dragging me into this?"

Ian immediately stood up. He couldn't believe Dan. First he humiliated him in front of everyone in this contest. Then he made Hamilton's task easy so that the Holt would win. Now he wants him to kiss his sister in front of everyone?!

Ian was tired of all of this. Tired of being treated this way by Dan Cahill.

So, he lunged at Dan.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it! I love to torture Ian. :D**

**Like always, reviews and constructive criticism! **

**Attention readers: I will continue this since many of you guys asked. This will be continued after the contest is over, I'll try to update in the beginning of March! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N So sorry! I said that I was going to update in the beginning of March, but it's now the end of March.**

**I didn't forget about this story, I just didn't get the chance to update.**

**I blame two things: School and Writers Block**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter! You guys finally get to see what happens after the cliff-hanger and a part of Hamilton's competition.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the 39 Clues series or any of these characters. :)**

* * *

**~*~Reality~*~**

**Part 2**

* * *

Hamilton watched the epic fight between Ian and Dan. Personally, he was rooting for Dan to win. The poor boy didn't deserve to be attacked by Ian, even if the competition was rigged.

No one even bothered stopping the two from fighting; everyone was taking sides, rooting for one of them.

Hamilton already had his prize planned out. He decided that he was going to pull the ultimate prank on certain Cahills. Dan, of course, was all for this idea. He even offered his ideas.

_This is going to be fun, _he thought.

A thought kept on bothering him. He remembered how Amy said that it was unfair. He had to admit that the competition was rigged, but it was sort of fair.

_If only Ian knew how difficult my riddles were, _Hamilton thought. _Then he'll know how I feel._

Hamilton sat on the bench and tried to collect his thoughts. He thought back to his competition, just to make sure that he did won fair and square.

* * *

Like Ian, Hamilton was standing in the middle of a sweltering, artificial jungle.

He looked at his surroundings and felt relaxed. Hamilton loved the outdoors. It brought back good memories of spending time with his family.

He made a mental note to himself that after this reunion was over; he would ask his dad if they can all go hiking.

Hamilton walked deeper into the jungle. Fortunately for him, he didn't have any trouble maneuvering in the jungle. He was wearing insect repellent lotion, so the mosquitoes weren't bothering him. A Holt was always prepared.

He passed so many trees that he started getting irritated. _Where was the action? _Is it possible that this is his task? How long he could stay in the jungle without getting fed up?

He tried to keep his expression, emotionless.

Hamilton felt like he was walking for forever. He was on the verge of giving up when he spotted a pond. His spirits were lifted and he sprinted towards it.

He went on his knees and washed his face with water. Hamilton felt a breeze coming. He could finally feel the cool air.

He got up and noticed a bunch of rocks at the end of the pond. He ran towards it and found that it was placed in a weird formation.

The rocks were carved to look like numbers and additions and equal signs. _Great, a math puzzle! Why couldn't it be something more athletic?_

He looked at the puzzle and noticed that it was a pattern:

**2+3=8**

**3+7=27**

**4+7=32**

**5+8=60**

**6+7=?**

He would have to guess what the missing number was.

Hamilton stared at the puzzle in confusion. It didn't seem to make sense. How did they get 8 from 3 and 2?

He tried to think back to when he did his Algebra homework for school –which was rare, he usually got the answers from online or not do it at all.

Then he got an idea. He remembered that they learned something about exponents in class once. He tried 2 to the power of 3, and he got 8.

_Maybe that's it! If it works for the next one, then it must be true!_

Excited he tried doing 3 to the power of 7, but stopped before trying to solve it. _No, it can't work. The answer will be a very big number. It will never add up to 27…_

Hamilton was ready to give up until he remembered that this problem was very familiar. He knew that he saw this before. Then it hit him –this was on Dan's math homework!

Hamilton smiled. He remembered that during one of their reunions, Amy made Dan do his homework before playing on the Xbox 360. Since Hamilton had nothing to do at the time, he watched Dan solve it. He was amazed that Dan was able to solve this quickly. Fortunately for him, he remembered how Dan solved it.

Hamilton wrote out the equation using a stick and the ground. He tried the equation out on the first one, just to make he remembered correctly.

x+y=x*[y+(x-1)]

2+3=2*[3+(2-1)]

The answer was 8. This formula was correct.

Hamilton grinned. Now that he knew what to do, this would be easy. He skipped the other numbers and tried to find the missing number.

6+7=6*[7+(6-1)}

"The answer is 72," he said out loud. He found rocks shaped like a seven and a two. He replaced the question mark-shaped rocks with his answer.

The rocks glowed and the water in the pond started to sink lower and lower. After a couple of seconds, there was no water. Hamilton looked down at what used to be a pond and found a trap door at the bottom. He jumped down and opened the door.

_And they say a Holt isn't smart enough to solve a math riddle…_

* * *

Hamilton snapped out of his thoughts and decided that the competition was fair. His sister was right. He got difficult riddles and easy tasks while Ian got the opposite.

The rest of his competition was the same. He had to solve some more math problems and he finished. Each math problem required more thinking than the next.

He noticed that Dan and Ian were still fighting.

Dan was on top of Ian, pinning his hands to his sides. Ian tried to move, but was unable too.

"You can never defeat a ninja," Dan told Ian.

"Dan," Hamilton said, getting up from his seat. "Let Ian go."

"What?" Dan asked. "Why? He doesn't deserve it. First, he refused to do what I told him to do. Then, he attacked me. What makes me want to give him mercy?"

"Remember my reward?" Hamilton told Dan. A look of realization appeared on Dan's face.

Dan grinned, and then got up. He helped Ian up. "Everyone! You're dismissed! Hamilton and I have some important matters to attend to."

Ian got up and gave Dan a glare. "You'll regret this, Daniel. I'm not done with you just yet."

"If I we're you, I'd leave at once," Dan replied. "Unless, you want to feel the wrath of the ninja lord?"

Ian looked like he wanted to retort but simply smirked. "Watch your back," he said as he left with the others."

Once everyone left the building, Hamilton said, "Ready?"

"Of course," Dan replied. "This is going to be awesome!"

* * *

Ian Kabra was in the kitchen was making himself a cup of tea.

He wasn't pleased with the fact the Cahill boy humiliated him in front of everyone. It was bad enough to be beaten by a post. He'll make Dan rue the day he was ever born.

Ian also didn't like the fact that he had to make his own tea, all by himself. It was outrageous! Ian couldn't understand the Cahills. With all their money, they refuse to hire a maid.

_Americans, you can never understand them._

He placed two spoons of sugar and stirred it. Then he took a big gulp.

He spit the tea out of his mouth.

It was bitter. He didn't understand. He placed two spoons of sugar in the cup. Then he realized the truth. He looked at the container and took out the label. Underneath the label, it read salt.

"Dan," he muttered. He dumped the remainder of the tea into the sink and left the kitchen. He was going to barge into Dan's room and give him a piece of his mind.

He walked up the long flight of stairs. As he reached the last step, he didn't notice that he triggered a trap. Gallons of milk dropped down from the ceiling and landed on him. He was soaking wet.

Ian groaned. He just took a shower an hour ago!

He went to his room and grabbed a change of clothes. He was about to enter the bathroom that was in his room until he noticed a sign.

**Bathroom is under repairs. Please use the other bathrooms.**

He sighed. _Great._

He got out of his room and went to the bathroom at the end of the hall. He found the same exact sign.

_This is getting ridiculous, _he thought. He decided to use the downstairs bathroom.

Fortunately for him, everyone was outside in the yard. He would die if anyone saw him like this. The good news was, the bathroom didn't have a sign on it. He walked right in.

Ian was pleased that the bathroom weren't small. He couldn't stand those kinds. _The Cahills finally have good taste when it comes to interior design. _

He took a step inside and closed the door.

That was when he was taken by surprise.

The shower curtains suddenly opened up and standing in the bathtub was Grace's cat, Saladin.

Ian let out a scream. He couldn't stand the Cahills' cat. Saladin would never treat him properly.

Saladin walked slowly towards Ian. Ian knew that he had to get out of here and risk being seen drenched in milk by the Cahills. Anything is better than being locked in a bathroom with a beast.

He quickly unlocked the door and got out of the bathroom. Only to be found by Hamilton and Dan carrying ketchup and mayonnaise dispensers. They were grinning evilly at him.

Ian became pale. He was trapped. It was either the cat or ketchup and mayonnaise.

"Hi Ian," Dan said.

"Don't you dare do this," he said to both of them. "Or else, I'll sue!"

"Sorry Ian," Hamilton said. "But I won. If you admit defeat, then you'll be spared."

"Never," he said.

"Have it your way," Dan replied.

Ian ran away from them but wasn't fast enough to escape the horror of having ketchup and mayonnaise on his Armani shirt.

* * *

The next day after breakfast, Dan called everyone to the living room.

Everyone arrived, except Ian. Ian still hasn't recovered from yesterday's unfortunate event. Dan didn't really care that he wasn't here. It was better this way, not having to worry about getting attacked by a Cobra.

He looked at Hamilton and smiled. Just this morning, they found out that the video they posted on YouTube last night was a hit. They already got a million views in a couple of hours! Dan knew he had to make more videos. This time, he decided that he'll upload the video of the entire competition.

"Ready for day two of the competition?" he asked.

Everyone groaned. Dan ignored them.

"The next two people are going to be chosen," he said. He took out his hat and pulled out two names.

"The two lucky contestants are," he paused, "…Natalie Cobra and Amy Cahill! May the odds be_ ever _in your favor."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this! Like always, reviews and constructive criticism!**

**Next chapter will (hopefully) be soon!**


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